Tell me your secrets for MK (please) to avoid lines!

[momdoc]

We will be at MK next week with 4 children 6 and under. You know MK is the highlight of their trip. What strategies have people used to "beat the crowds". Don't let the "4 kids" deceive you--we still plan on Splash Mountain, Space Mountain and Pirates of the Carib!!

 

[KS Jeff]

Find out which day MK is open late for EMH, and go the following morning. Get there right at rope drop. The park will be relatively empty for about 90 minutes.

If you're going with 4 kids under 6 be prepared to do the baby swap - "you must be THIS high to ride" will be a factor.

 

[Degli]

Fast pass, fast pass, fast pass. If you can get the science of pass pass down, it can be a very enjoyable day.

 

[msr709]

Go first thing in the morning straight to Fantasyland, one parent should get on line at Dumbo while the other gets FP to Winnie, Peter Pan or PhilarMagic 3D movie. I would try to do the non-FP first thing and get FP as you go, then when you've finished all the non-FP rides hit the FPs you have (once the 1st hour is up on your FP you can get another FP). And just because your FP as expired doesn't mean you can't use it. They are very strict with the entrance time, not too concerned with the time expired. What I mean is if your FP reads 1:00 to 2:00, just because its after 2:00 doesn't mean you can't use it, but you can't use it if it is 12:59, they will not allow you to enter before your initial time. I hope this is clear. HTH and have a wonderful trip.

 

[wfloyd]

"beat the crowds".

A 2X4 or stick might be too obvious when entering the parks but a cane could be concealed nicely

Although I have seen some tour groups I would gladly do this to.

 

[RevBob]

Fastpass used wisely will make a world of diference, especially with young children in your party.
Secondly, get there early, before opening, so as to be one of the first ones into the park. As important as Fastpass in avoiding long lines.
Third, take a break in the afternoon, while the crowds are swelling the all ready long lines and come back after supper if possible, to not only avoid the crowds but the mid day heat.
Have a great trip.

 

[SeattleMark]

Subscribe to Tourguide Mike, quick!

www.tourguidemike.com

 

[jswalker1981]

Best case scenario: you get there early and find a paintbrush at Tom Sawyer's Island and use it for Splash Mountain. And then get a fast pass for Thunder Mountain, and when you are waiting, hit POTC, Birds of the Tiki Room, then go back and ride TM. If you have to wait longer, check out Country Bear Jamboree, then hit the ride. The fastpass is great for fantasyland if you can get good times for the rides you don't get the fastpass for. Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh seem to be the longest lines in Fantasyland. There are two keys to the fastpasses, get one with a quick return time, also ride rides with quick load times after you get a fast pass, this will give you something to do when you are waiting for your fastpass return time.

 

[eeyore45]

A 2X4 or stick might be too obvious when entering the parks but a cane could be concealed nicely

Although I have seen some tour groups I would gladly do this to.

*oh "beat" the crowds = "hit" the crowds....

 

[YCFAN]

What is the paint brush?

 

[Carol Ann]

Subscribe to Tourguide Mike, quick!

www.tourguidemike.com

I second that suggestion.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

Last week, we found it best to go early and stay late on NON-emh days. A couple of times in the late evening, we practically had MK to ourselves. We quickly abandoned our plans to take advantage of EMH at all of the parks.

 

[jswalker1981]

What is the paint brush?

On Tom Sawyer's Island there are five paintbrushes that are hidden on the island. If someone finds one, they get a free "cut to the front of the line" pass for either splash or thunder mountain. I haven't gotten one yet, but last time I tried, I was on the raft over and two kids had one each and were waiting to come back across the river. It is something that I strive to accomplish at MK, I have found alot of Hidden Mickeys in MK, but retrieving a paintbrush has eluded me.

 

[momdoc]

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I am looking at the website recommended (for the book) as well. I appreciate everyone who took time to answer and would love to hear more from anyone else!

 

[BATBkindagirl]

On Tom Sawyer's Island there are five paintbrushes that are hidden on the island. If someone finds one, they get a free "cut to the front of the line" pass for either splash or thunder mountain. I haven't gotten one yet, but last time I tried, I was on the raft over and two kids had one each and were waiting to come back across the river. It is something that I strive to accomplish at MK, I have found alot of Hidden Mickeys in MK, but retrieving a paintbrush has eluded me.

Is it a one time use pass?

 

[disney1990]

Go first thing in the morning straight to Fantasyland, one parent should get on line at Dumbo while the other gets FP to Winnie, Peter Pan or PhilarMagic 3D movie. I would try to do the non-FP first thing and get FP as you go, then when you've finished all the non-FP rides hit the FPs you have (once the 1st hour is up on your FP you can get another FP). And just because your FP as expired doesn't mean you can't use it. They are very strict with the entrance time, not too concerned with the time expired. What I mean is if your FP reads 1:00 to 2:00, just because its after 2:00 doesn't mean you can't use it, but you can't use it if it is 12:59, they will not allow you to enter before your initial time. I hope this is clear. HTH and have a wonderful trip.

Maybe this be clarified a bit. One person gets in line for Dumbo, while the other person takes all the Disney tickets and gets a FP for the next thing your want to ride (in my opinion, Winnie the Pooh is probably the next most crowded Fantasyland ride). You can't go grab fasspasses for everything. You can only hold one fasspass until the "window of time" of your current fasspass (or 2 hours have gone by.)

 

[EthansMom]

Is it a one time use pass?

It's supposed to be, but DH and DS stumbled upon a paintbrush on our last visit and road Splash Mountain twice and BTMRR once before a CM finally took the pass and kept it. They didn't realize it was supposed to be one-time use since it doesn't say so on the pass.

 

[EthansMom]

Somewhat little-known tip: You can combine Fastpass with Babyswap. You go to the Fastpass machine with all of the kids and baby. Tell the CM at the machine you would like to do Fastpass and Babyswap. You get Fastpasses for the kids and one adult. The CM gives you a Babyswap pass good for up to three people and it has an open return time. So the group with Fastpasses goes on the ride at their appointed time, the adults exchange kids and two kids can go on the ride again with the second adult using the Babyswap pass. You pretty much need to take the baby with you to get the Babyswap pass in order to avoid abuse of this great tool. But my DS3.5 loved going on Splash Mountain and BTMRR several times.

On our last trip, we did two full days at MK. On one day we started with Buzz Lightyear and then headed to Fantasyland. Watch out for the line at Dumbo -- it can really eat up time. My advice, grab Fastpasses for Philharmagic right as you get in line for Dumbo. After Dumbo, it'll probably be time for your Fastpass return to Philharmagic. Before going into Philharmagic, grab Fastpasses for Peter Pan. Three rides, one line -- worked well for us.

On our second day at MK, we started over on the other side of the park with Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. DH and DS rode Splash Mountain with a 10 min. wait for standby, then road BTMRR with a 10 min. wait for standby. By this time, Splash Mountain had gone to a 20 min. wait, but was issuing Fastpasses for 30 min. I was waiting with DD1, so went over and pulled Fastpasses for Splash Mountain just as DH and DH got on BTMRR. DH and DS were able to get back on Splash Mountain with Fastpasses right after returning from BTMRR. As they got on, I pulled Fastpasses for BTMRR. In all, DH and DS rode Splash Mountain and BTMRR twice each in just under two hours. Could have gotten DS on faster if DH and I had done Babyswap, but I just wasn't feeling too adventurous that morning. And could have kept going back and forth with the Fastpasses for a while, but DD1 was getting antsy so we went to see Country Bear Jamboree (her fave).

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee dad Says............................................Be at the front of the crowds for rope drop to Fantasyland. Go straight to Dumbo. If you are within the first hundred people to get in, there will be NO line. Also it loads very slowly, so lines form the fastest for this ride.

Then go to Peter Pan and Snow White, the Golden Carousel, Winnie the Pooh, and Mad Tea Party, in that order, least walking. Then if you want to do It's a Small World, double back, the lines will still be short and it loads very,very fast. This will all take less than an hour. In November we can do this in 30 minutes, not including the ride time for It's a Small World, which is about two ays long! lol

 

[SorcererDonald16]

If you're planning on staying kinda late and want to go to Toontown, I'd definitely suggest saving that for the hour or 2 before Wishes and/or the parade. That place empties out at night, and there's usually (in my experience) only a short wait for Barnstormer or touring Mickey & Minnie's houses or seeing characters. Just check early to find out how late the characters will be there in case my experience wasn't the typical one.